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What is Netiquette
Netiquette is quite simply Net Etiquette. A set of rules for behaving properly online, which has been developed.
There are ten basic rules starting with "Remember the Human", which as it's title suggests is that you remember that whenever you send an email it is to a person and not to a computer. A golden rule of holding a conversation online, whether its an email or a discussion group is that if you wouldn't say it to the person's face then you shouldn't really say it online.
Rule two stipulates that you should "adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life" which means that it is bad netiquette to do something illegal online and its a crime, the source can be easily traced.
The next Netiquette rule is to "always know where you are in cyberspace" as what is perfectly acceptable in one area may be rude in another, whether it be a different culture, country or simply a different site.
One of the most important rules is to "respect people's time and bandwidth". When you send email or post to a discussion group, you're taking up other people's time and it's your responsibility to ensure that the time they spend reading your posting isn't wasted. Whenever you send a message, you are using what is called "bandwidth" this is the term given to the information-carrying capacity of the wires and channels that connect everyone in cyberspace. Because bandwidth costs money it is bad netiquette to waste this with useless emails, off-topic posts to online discussions and worst of all spamming!
Spam is the name given to sending unsolicited emails, often adverts, and is often compared to sending mail for which the recipient pays for.
In fact it is common practice to use some common abbreviations online such as
Emoticons are also a popular and fun way of adding to your messages.
A few of
the most popular ones are :-) which means "happy", :-( meaning "sad", :-o
represents "surprised", :-D is "laughing", :-< means "mad" and ;-) means
"winking".
Other Netiquette rules include "make yourself look good online", "share expert knowledge online", "respect other people's privacy", "don't abuse your power and be forgiving for other people's mistakes", otherwise you may spark off a "flame war".
Flaming is the term given to whenever someone sends an angry email or being treated rudely in a public discussion. This is called being flamed, and if you attack back you will spark a "flame war", hence the tenth rule is "help keep flame wars under control.